The consensus is in; it really was a Better Barn Bash this year! This year’s format was a bit different with some new vendors, new band, and a very charged up Bash Committee who produced like never before!

The registration opened at 5pm to a sold out crowd of party goers who were ready to celebrate our 30th year of service. Another record number of partygoers this year supporting or mission, vision and values is a testament for our continued services to our special needs and at risk youth programs designed to help break through personal barriers!

We want to thank Major League Conditioning Centers Charities, Sanderson Ford, Sanderson Lincoln, and Pet Club for their sponsorship of this event and making it possible to tell our story to our community and attendees.

It is always a major facility transformation during the barn bash and this year, a new 5000 square foot paved patio set the stage for our casino excitement. This improvement project gift was a direct result of our Spring Golf Tournament orchestrated by the Major League Conditioning Centers Charities as designated by their Board of Directors. This is just a taste of the overall Build the Dream project for the centers future! In addition, The Joy King Memorial Arena was dedicated along with the holiday lighting project completion and the dedication of the future Barn Bash’s to be named for Joy King. Her husband Craig and her children, Lauren and Brian were on stage to say a few heartfelt words honoring Joy. It was also a time for the selection of our Founders Award, honoring Cindy Ramsey. This year without a doubt Joy King was the selection in tribute to her passion for Horses Help and those we serve.

Dancing? Have you ever seen Dancing at the Barn Bash? Well we had some shakers and movers this year who were out cutting a rug to the tunes of the Bill Dutcher Band! Our attendees with rhythm and not so coordinated danced under the stars and to everyone’s delight. This was Bill Dutcher’s first Big Better Barn Bash and they did such a good job the crowd made them do and encore! What? Yep and ENCORE!

Guess that means they will be back again next year if they are not on a world tour or Americas got Talent, or playing Vegas!

Then on to the Silent Auction! By far, the best silent auction in Bash History! We had Reg do the honors for the live auction items, a trip to Mexico, a trip to the wine country and an amazing painting that brought in a record 6000 dollars! The Silent Auction was a group effort lead by Joy’s sisters Leigh and Paige and our very own Kathi Pfeiffer coordinated this effort with their team raising 22000 dollars in the silent auction alone! A tremendous community of donors to the silent auction made this all possible. Amazing!

The atmosphere was electric and with all that energy, you get hungry! To the rescue was Outback Steakhouse who donated the heavy appetizers with selections like seared Ahi tuna, grilled chicken, and so much more. Whiskey Ranch BBQ and long time bash culinary genius, Tommy and Jennifer Duncan provided the mouth watering hand carved brisket, bbq sliders, southern meatballs and taters and corn to die for. There was plenty of guest grazing during the evening and no one left hungry or disappointed.

On the other side of campus was our vendor and casino area that drove our gamblers to the tables for some Vegas strategy and excitement! Some very unique vendors selected by the Bash Committee were onsite to add a unique opportunity for our partygoers. Hand Rolled Cigars, Custom Cowboy hats by Eric Watson, Custom Jewelry by Mill Avenue Jewelers added to the excitement.

On the other side of campus was our vendor and casino area that drove our gamblers to the tables for some Vegas strategy and excitement! Some very unique vendors selected by the Bash Committee were onsite to add a unique opportunity for our partygoers. Hand Rolled Cigars, Custom Cowboy hats by Eric Watson, Custom Jewelry by Mill Avenue Jewelers added to the excitement.

Our Herd of Therapy horses remained in their stalls this year as our guests had an opportunity to visit them and select their wish stars for supporting their care and maintenance. There were 17 new horse sponsors this year and a special Goat sponsorship for Penny and Nickle! Thank you Matt Bohnert for this sponsorship in honor of your Grandfather George! The following thanks goes out to our horse sponsors: Peg Bohnert, Sue Kelly, etc…… Additional thanks goes out to our Rider sponsor Jenanne Overgaard. Thank you to our countless attendees for selecting wish stars to support the Barn needs as well.

All in all, the night was a resounding success! This was due to the incredible Barn Bash Committee who worked tirelessly this year! Supreme thank you’s to Andrea Obert and Shaney Salomon for leading this group for an entire year with incredible results! Their stars are: Alexia Salomon, Sabine Brelin, Amanda Frein, Paige Roepke, Megan Smith, Julie Willis, Kathi Pfeiffer, Danielle Bittner, Carole Miller, Leigh Roepke, Laura Osvald, Hailey Schatzberg and Danielle Litchfield! If you would like to join that team for the planning of next year’s event contact our volunteer coordinator Hailey at hailey.h@horseshelp.org!

Just a few more pictures from the Bash! More will be posted on the Horses Help Facebook Page!